Move over Dorothy MacKellar

[Chuck]

When the shearing sheds are silent and the stock camps fallen quiet,
When the gidgee coals no longer glow across the outback night,
And the bush is forced to hang a sign, 'gone broke and won't be back'
And spirits fear to find a way beyond the beaten track.

When harvesters stand derelict upon the wind swept plains,
And brave hearts pin their hopes no more on chance of loving rains,
When a hundred outback settlements are ghost towns overnight,
When we've lost the drive and heart we had to once more see us right.

When 'Pioneer' means a stereo and 'Digger' some backhoe,
And the 'Outback' is behind the house. there's nowhere else to go,
And 'Anzac' is a biscuit brand and probably foreign owned,
And education really means brainwashed and neatly cloned.

When you have to bake a loaf of bread to make a decent crust,
And our heritage once enshrined in gold is crumbling to dust,
And old folk pay their camping fees on land for which they fought,
And fishing is a great escape; this is until you're caught.

When you see our kids with Yankee caps and resentment in their eyes,
And the soaring crime and hopeless hearts is no longer a surprise,
When the name of RM Williams is a yuppie clothing brand,
Not a product of our heritage that grew off this great land.

When offering a hand makes people think you'll amputate,
And two dogs meeting in the street is what you call a 'Mate',
When 'Political Correctness' has replaced all common sense,
When you're forced to see it their way, there's no sitting on the fence.

Yes - one day you might find yourself an outcast in this land,
Perhaps your heart will tell you then, 'I should have made a stand',
Just go and ask the farmers that should remove all doubt,
Then join the swelling ranks who say, 'don't sell Australia out'.


Author unknown

[bob r]

Got that right Chuck.

Bob

[Macca]

Congrats to the Author

[supersparky]

Unfortunately it is so true. It must now be up to us old farts to try to regenerate the rural economy.

[T1 Terry]

Hmmm.... after seeing the number of grain trucks doing the run each way through Crystal Brook and the size of the harvesters coming into the local workshop for service and heading back out that day, there are big $$ flowing off the land at the moment. Harvesters going 24/7 and crops still to come in, all the silos and ground store pits full and wheat still pouring in it doesn't look like too many are walking off the land or about to do so.
It did need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, you couldn't just follow the same practices as great grandad used. but it is still very much alive thankfully.
If the Chinese as buying up bigger and bigger properties but putting the same Australian know how to work to run them, what is the difference as to who owns it, a pollie, a Sydney or Melbourne or WA mining magnet, or a Chinese business man? The money would flow out of the country anyway to avoid tax.

T1 Terry

[bob r]

Maybe a good season down that way Terry but not so good up this way.

Bob

[T1 Terry]

Maybe a good season down that way Terry but not so good up this way.

Bob

This is Australia after all, one spot is flooded while right next door is still in the grip of drought, and that moves around the country. We have had 2 good seasons back to back here but I doubt it will continue that way. The clever ones will put the money aside to cover the bad times, the clueless ones will buy a fleet of new cars in the luxury range cause they're rich now and have to sell them for a fraction of the value and head to the bank cap in hand .... or sell up to someone who does have the capital behind them and the business brains to diversify their financial holding rather than put all their eggs in the one basket.
Agriculture on a big scale requires big money and good financial management, they also need the people running the property to be the best available with knowledge of local conditions. No point in moving off the land and taking great farming skills to the city, just as useful as taking a banker out to grow crops or muster cattle. It's a matter of either selling out-right and working for the new owners, or writing your family into a part ownership as a condition of sale so you get back something for all the hard work.... makes more sense than to work ya guts out and then give it all to the bank each yr.

[Macca]

Have that version of poem on my fridge. Our daughter is on a large property at Bellata & they, as well as surrounding farmers, are watching all crops die for the second year running. They also have an Agronomy business so they see first hand what their clients are going through as well. Wild dry storm a couple of days ago did damage to the building where the office is situated. Bush fires out of control in the Kaputar ranges.

[T1 Terry]

Have that version of poem on my fridge. Our daughter is on a large property at Bellata & they, as well as surrounding farmers, are watching all crops die for the second year running. They also have an Agronomy business so they see first hand what their clients are going through as well. Wild dry storm a couple of days ago did damage to the building where the office is situated. Bush fires out of control in the Kaputar ranges.

Those off shore that buy up outback properties don't see this side of living on the land, they only look at living off the land. Without that generational tie to the property and the boom times that some how offset the heartache times to keep people on these properties I think the multi-national off shore people are going to find running a property using payed staff as difficult as the Chinese found it trying to build their own mine and ore processing facility. Food security can be the only viable reason, but ask the poms what happened in Ireland when they tried that with potatoes

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

Agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of the OP.
However, Chuck, it’s DorothEA Mackellar.
(Full name Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar. OBE )
Not trying to be a party-pooper, just like to see the correct spelling of her name preserved.
Well done posting the poem. I plan to print it for our m/h fridge door!
BTW, there is a bronze statue of her in ANZAC Park, Gunnedah, and a series of watercolours illustrating My Country in the local art gallery.
Her brothers owned farms in the area, although Dorothea was a city girl- born in Point Piper, Sydney.